Lyons Class Handbook

8/6/2019 Lyons Class Handbook

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Mr. Lyons Kindergarten Class Handbook Barkers Mill Elementary

Every Student is an Honored Student

2007-2008


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Table of Contents Welcome Letter3 Get to Know Mr. Lyons..4

First Day PoemA Message for Kindergarten Parents6 Supply ListParent-Teacher Relationship8 MoneyLunchSnacks

Transportation9Attendance.1VolunteersField TripsBirthdaysClothingRest Time

HomeworkGrading PolicyBook-ItMedia Center/Library14 Scholastic Book Clubs..14 FROG Binders Daily Folder.14 Class Website/Blog.15Roaring News Weekly Newsletter15 DisciplineOpen House & Parent-Teacher Conference..16 Final Words


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Dear Parents, August 9, 2007

This week your child will complete one of the most important milestones in his/her life the first day of school! I understand

that you and your child may have met this day with excitementor apprehension (or a little of both).

I want to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child toBarkers Mill Elementary and to my classroom. Each new schoolyear is exciting and challenging for me and I am looking forwardto getting to know you and your child.

The beginning of a school year is an exciting time in the lives of

children, especially Kindergarten students. I have prepared thisbooklet of information to answer many questions you may haveconcerning procedures in our classroom and in our school. Pleasekeep this booklet and refer to it when appropriate. Please let meknow if you have any questions.

This year will be a very exciting time in the life of your child.Kindergarten will be a time when we build your childs educationalfoundation. I am very happy to partner with you on this journey

we are beginning. Dont blink this year will go by fast!!!Sincerely,Mr. Lyons


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Get to Know Mr. LyonsI would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. Myname is Andy Lyons. I am beginning my 8th year as akindergarten teacher. I taught kindergarten at St. BethlehemElementary School for the past 6 years. I then transferred toBarkers Mill Elementary last year when it opened. I graduatedfrom Union University in Jackson, TN, with a degree inElementary and Middle School Education in 2000. I obtained myMasters degree in Educational Leadership from TreveccaNazarene University in 2004. I have obtained my PrincipalsLicense in order to someday move in that direction. I am veryhonored and humbled to have been recognized for my passion ofteaching by receiving educational awards and recognition. Whileat St. Bethlehem Elementary I received the Green Apple TeacherAward, Distinguished Educator Award and Teacher of the Year.While at Barkers Mill I have received Teacher of the Year, CrayolaGold Star Teacher and the Clarksville-Montgomery CountyElementary Teacher of the Year for 2006-2007. I enjoyresearching new strategies in education and sharing them withfellow educators. I enjoy attending church and teaching SundaySchool, hanging out with friends and working out at the YMCA. Iam looking forward to an amazing year with your child.


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A Message for Kindergarten Parents K Kindle excitement about Kindergarten. Visit your school and meet

your childs teacherI Invite new school friends home to play and help your child build

strong friendships

N Never forget safety. Teach your child safety rules-whetherwalking or taking the bus.

D Discuss what your child will be learning in school colors, shapes,numbers, letters, etc.

E Explore your neighborhood together. Talk about the world you livein.

R Review the good behavior expected of your child, such asfollowing rules and taking turns

G Get involved at your childs school. Join the PTA or PTO. Volunteerin the classroom.

A Answer your childs questions about school. Reassure your childthat school is fun .

R Read to your child daily. Visit the library together.T Turn every day into a learning experience. Let your child help you

with everyday chores.

E Encourage your child to eat well, get enough sleep, bathe dailyand brush teeth 2X a day.N Notice the new things your child is learning to do. Reinforce your

childs progress with praise.


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Barkers Mill ElementaryKindergarten Supply List

1 package of #2 pencils 3 folders (2 pockets) with 3 holes punched 2 bottles of WHITEschool glue (4 oz.) 1 pair of scissors (Fiskars) 2 boxes of 24 crayons 1 plastic school box (5X8 in size no handles) 1-2 bottles of hand soap 1 box of tissue towel for rest time (please, no mats) 1 large Book Bag

Other helpful items that we could use, if you can and would like to

send: 1-2 boxes of baby wipes 1 box of zip lock baggies (Girls bring one box of snack or

quart size and boys bring one box of sandwich or gallon size) 1 bag of Skittles 1 bag of M&Ms (plain chocolate, only) 1 package of dry erase markers 1 box of washable markers (classic colors) (please leave markers in

box)

1-2 bottles of hand sanitizer 1-2 reams of white copy paper 1 spiral notebook

**While school supplies are on sale, it would be a good idea togo ahead and stock up on supplies in order to replenishthroughout the school year**


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Parent/Teacher RelationshipI believe that a good parent-teacher relationship is necessary for maximumschool success. Throughout the school year I will communicate with youthrough notes, telephone calls, weekly newsletters, daily behavior calendar,progress reports, nine-weeks report cards, and parent-teacher conferences.I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Youcan call me at school 906-7235, send me a note, or e-mail me at:[email protected]

MoneyOn occasion it will be necessary for your child to bring money to school.Always send money in a sealed envelope with the following informationwritten on it:

~1. Your childs first and last name~2. The amount of money~3. The purpose for the money (lunch, book fair, etc).~4. My name Mr. Lyons~5. Your childs 6-digit lunch number~6. Your childs name on the check if different from your name.

This envelope needs to be placed in the FROG Binder in the zipper pouch. Thisway it cannot fall out of the folder and get lost. With around 20 students tokeep track of and several reasons to collect money, this is a tremendous helpand reduces the likelihood of errors. Also, if the envelope is left on the bus or

dropped in the hallway, this information will help the money to be returned to my classroom.

LunchThe cost of student lunch is $1.50 per day. (*Please follow the moneyprocedures outlined above). You can prepay for your childs lunches online at

Menus are sent home every month and are available online atPlease help your child select his/her choice before coming to school each day.School lunch includes milk or juice. If your child brings his/her lunch from home

make sure it is in a lunch box or bag. Milk or juice may be purchased for $.50 oryou may send a non-carbonated, low-sugar beverage from home.

Ice cream is available to Kindergarten students ONLY on FRIDAY. Ice cream is$.50. You can allow your child to use money from their account or send in$.50 on Friday.


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You are always welcome to join us for lunch, however, PLEASE GIVE US A FEWWEEKS TO ESTABLISH OUR ROUTINE BEFORE VISTING. Adult lunches are $3.00.When you arrive, please sign in at the office and meet us at the entrance tothe cafeteria.Our lunch period is 30 minutes long. You and your child will dine at one of the

guest tables.

SnacksIn Kindergarten, we eat fairly early in the day. Therefore, the KindergartenTeam has elected to have snacks during the afternoon. I would ask that yousend your snack to school on the 1st Monday of each month. This way wehave a variety to choose from and you always know when it is your turn tosend snacks. You will need enough for 22 children. If everyone provides asnack once a month, the children will be able to have a snack everyday.

Snack items can be: cookies, graham crackers, animal crackers, fruit roll ups,cereal, goldfish, and snack bars. No candy, please!

Transportation

Please remember to NOTIFY ME IN WRITINGif there are changes in the wayyour child will be going home from school. Without written instruction from you,I will send your child home their usual manner (I cannot accept verbal changesfrom your child or a sibling). PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL TRANSPORTATIONCHANGES!!! I cannot guarantee that I will have an opportunity to check myemail prior to dismissal. Additionally, substitutes do not have access to my

email account. Transportation changes will not be allowed o ver thephone. The only way to make a transportation change is by sending a noteto school in your childs FROG binder.

**I have found that it makes everything go smoother is your child uses thesame transportation on the first day of school as (s)he will be using the restof the school year.If you want to walk your child to our classroom on the first testing day, Iunderstand. However, I feel it is best for everyone if you allow your child towalk independently after the testing days. Independence is an important skilllearned in Kindergarten. Dont forget, your child must be in our classroom by

8:45a.m. to avoid tardiness.

AttendanceYour child should be at school every day unless he/she is sick or observing areligious holiday. If your child is sick or misses school for any reason, pleasesend a note so that I can keep it on file so it can be determined if it is anexcused or unexcused absence. In accordance with Clarksville-Montgomery


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County School System attendance policy, at 5 absences you will receive aletter reminding you of the attendance policy. If your child accumulates 10absences, you receive another letter. You will continue to receive a letter orphone call as the absences continue to accumulate.If your child is not feeling well, has had a fever during the last 24 hours, or is in

any way contagious, PLEASE allow him/her to stay home from school as wewant your child and the rest of the class and teachers to stay healthy. If youtake your child to the doctor, please ask the doctor for a school excuse note.Please try and refrain from taking your child out of school to go on familytrips as this is not an excused absence.For more details on the attendance policy refer to your Student Code ofConduct Handbook. For specific questions call the school and ask to speak tothe attendance secretary.

VolunteersThe students and I enjoy having our parents come to school to help us learn!Beginning in September, you will be given the opportunity to sign up tovolunteer in our class. A calendar will go home prior to the month to sign up fortimes you would like to help.Additionally, you can sign up to help out as a room parent, photo parent, orscrapbook parent. If you are interested, please contact me and I will give youinformation. I have had wonderful parent support in years past and I know Ican count on you this year! Your help is GREATLY appreciated!

Field TripsThroughout the year, we will schedule trips into the community to enhance ourcurriculum. Permission slips and cost information will be sent home prior toeach trip. Transportation is provided by the Montgomery County school buses.You will have the opportunity to volunteer to be a chaperone for a field trip.Due to space requirements, the number of chaperones will be limited for eachtrip. When the field trip permission slip is distributed, if you are interested inchaperoning please let me know as soon as possible. Chaperones will beassigned on a first come, first serve basis. If we have more volunteers thanspaces, I will take out names of parents who have already chaperoned a tripand then draw names. Please understand that I will make every attempt togive each parent the opportunity to go on a field trip that wants to.

Chaperones will be responsible for 3-5 children while we are away from school.Since you need to devote all of your attention to our students, siblings arenot permitted to accompany you.


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BirthdaysI know how special birthdays are for you and your child. We will recognizebirthdays at school in an appropriate manner. Please let me know ahead oftime if you wish to send in a special snack for the class on your childs birthday.We will have the treat/snack during our regular snack time, which will be after2:00p.m.If your child is having a birthday party and you would like to invite children fromthe class you must send in enough invitations for every child in the class. Ifthere are not enough for everyone then I will have to send them back hometo you.

ClothingKindergartners are involved in activities that require jumping, running,climbing and the like. Tennis shoes with laces or Velcro closures are required

for PE days. Please keep in mind that your child will participate in outdooractivities daily and flip-flops, slip-ons, pumps, clogs, and similar style shoesoften pose a danger to your child. Since we try to maximize the time we have.

Rest TimeKindergartners are busy people during the school day! We use our brains andbodies to learn and play. As a result, we need time to rest and re-energize.Your child will have a short 20-25 minute rest period each day. Please providea towel for your child to rest on. Please DO NOT send in mats. We do nothave room to store them in our classroom. If one is sent to school I will send itback home and request a towel. Please do not send in blankets or stuffedfriends for your child to sleep with. These items are among the worst carriersof lice and other critters and NOBODY wants that! Your child is not requiredto sleep, but must relax on his/her towel quietly and not disturb other children.The lights are turned off and soft music fills the room so you might besurprised to find out you have a sleeper!

**Towels will come home each Friday to be washed. Please wash themover the weekend and send them back to school on Monday in your childsbackpack.

HomeworkAs children enter Kindergarten, they are eager and ready to learn.Kindergarten homework lays the foundation for good work habits in lateryears. Furthermore, positive homework helps establish the home-schoolconnection and involves parents as partners in their childs daily learningexperiences.


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Your child will receive a monthly homework calendar with several activitychoices. Please assist your child in completing the activities. Once an activity iscompleted have your child color in the box to indicate the activity has beencompleted. You and your child can work on the activities as you wish. If theassignment requires the child to do a paper assignment then have the child

put the paper in their FROG binder and I will check it the following school day.Occasionally, additional homework may be sent home to complete. It will beplaced in their binder. Have your child complete it and return it to school bythe assigned date.

Grading Policy

smiley face, sticker or stamp Great Work!

check

OK!Keep Trying!

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check minus

Messy or RedoThis is the rubric I will use to grade your childs work. At the beginning of theschool year, I will ask them to help me grade their work using the rubric so theyknow what is expected of them.

If your child needs to redo his/her work, I will provide another copy and writeredo on their original work. Please make sure you work with your child on theskills necessary to correctly complete their work.

I will look for things such as doing their best, staying in the lines when coloring,using correct colors to complete their work, cutting things out correctly,gluing their projects together correctly, following directions, etc. I do talk tothem about what they can do to improve and I do stamp papers with a smile if


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they have shown progress. If you have any questions, please feel free tocontact me at 906-7235.

Book-ItEvery Monday, your child will bring home 2 books to read to you and you tothem. It is a letter book that goes with the letter of the week and a bookthat goes with the words that we are learning. Each night you and your childneed to read them together. When you and your child are reading the books,point to the word as you say it so they will recognize the words when theysee them later on. Once you and your child have read the books togetherseveral times, please put your signature on the back of the book. On Fridays,your child will bring the books back to school and read them to me.

If your child reads the books to me without any errors or help, they will receivea Pizza Hut sticker. Once your child has 4 stickers, they will get a coupon to

receive a FREE personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut! Your child can only get onefree pizza coupon per month. The coupon will expire 30 days from the dateissued. This coupon is for your child only. It is not to be given to friends orfamily members and your child must be present to receive the pizza.

I strongly encourage you to keep the books all year long. The books are agreat source to use to reread and to review letter sound and recognition.

Each child must participate in this program. This is a great program thatencourages children to read and has exciting rewards.

Media Center/LibraryYou will learn that I am a firm believer in children being surrounded by books.Each week your child will visit the school media center/library. He/She will bepermitted to check out one book during each visit. Please help your child find a

place to keep his/her library book at home. My suggestion would be to keepthe book in their backpack unless they are reading it. Then they wont forgetto bring it to school when it is due. Your child must return their current book inorder to get a different one. If your child does not take care of the librarybooks then they will lose their privilege to check out books.


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announcements and dates to keep you informed. It is very important thatyou read the newsletter each week. Attached to the bottom of thenewsletter will be a weekly progress report that I will fill out on your child. Theway I rate your child will reflect the kind of week that they had. If they arerated lower one week than another then that means they did not have as

good of a week. If you ever have any questions please feel free to ask.

Discipline Daily Behavior PlanYour child deserves the most positive educational climate possible foracademic growth. A good learning atmosphere is one in which a child is free tolearn without distraction and a high level of noise. To help reach this goal, adiscipline plan has been developed.

SCHOOL RULE

Honor Each OtherCLASSROOM R ULES

1. Follow directions the first time.2. Use all materials correctly.3. Keep hands, feet, objects, and unkind words to yourself.***These are general rules that cover all areas. They will be discussed atlength with your child during school. Each classroom may add a few morerules that pertain to that classroom.

POSITIVE REWARDS F OR FOLLOWING THE RULES1. Verbal Praise2. Rewards various daily and weekly rewards such as stickers, stamps,

treats, etc.3. Class-wide rewards such as extra playtime, snacks, popcorn party,

movie, etc.

CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT FOLLOWING THE RULES

1. Warning2. Remove child from situation (Example: move child from rug to his/her

seat when they misbehave) and move down or mark off one level onbehavior board, which will be indicated on folder.

3. Ten minutes in time-out (in classroom or neighbors classroom) and move down or mark off another level on behavior board, which will beindicated on folder.


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4. Lose some or all playtime, note sent home to parents that must besigned and returned to school. They move down or mark off anotherlevel on behavior board, which will be indicated on folder.

5. Thirty minutes time-out in a buddy teachers room. Note home or callto parent and move down or mark off another level on behavior board.

Indicated on folder.6. Referred to principal, call to parents, and move down or mark off lastlevel on behavior board.

***SEVERE CLAUSE***

In case of severe misbehavior, such as hitting, pushing, willful destruction ofproperty, profanity, willful disobedience or dangerous behavior, STEPS 1-5will be forgone and referral to principal. The child may be suspended.

Open House & Parent-Teacher ConferenceYou will have the opportunity to join us on Thursday, September 6th for OpenHouse. Bring your child with you and let them give you a tour of theirclassroom and see some of the work on projects they have been doing. Thiswill NOT be a time for you and I to conference about your child.

We will have Parent-Teacher Conferences on September 27 th and October 4 th .I will send home a sign-up sheet for you to pick a date and time that works foryou. You will only come on one of the above dates. As the year begins keeptrack on any questions you have and bring them to the conference with you.

FinallyEncourage your child to discuss school activities with you. Talk positively aboutschool. The way your child perceives your feelings about his/her school andteachers will have a direct effect on how (s)he feels about them. I amdelighted to have your child in my class and I look forward to working with youto make sure your child starts school on a positive note. I GREATLY appreciateyour support and anticipate a fun and successful school year!


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Thank you for reviewing the handbook. Please cut out and return the bottomportion to school in your childs FROG binder.-------------------------------------------------------------------I have reviewed the contents of the Kindergarten Handbook.

Parent Signature ____________________________________Childs Name ________________________________________

Date _____________________________________________

Email Address _______________________________________(Please provide an address you check regularly and please print clearly)

Moms Cell phone # ___________________________________

Dads Cell phone # ____________________________________*cell phone information will only be used in case of emergency!

Documents

Lyons Class Handbook